


No Funeral Today

by Baileys



Series: What Family's For [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:41:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baileys/pseuds/Baileys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reid gets a surprising phone call at work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Funeral Today

Laughing Morgan walked off, and Reid picked up his ringing phone in a fluster.

"Reid, or I mean special Agent err, hi."

"Is this Doctor Reid?"

"Yes." Reid answered the friendly yet formal female voice on the other end of the line.

"I'm calling from Memorial Hospital, Las Vegas, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Bad news, err, what is it my, my mother?"

"No Doctor I'm calling in regards to your father, a Mr. William Reid?"

Stunned into silence momentarily, it took him a few seconds to gather himself and process the words, mind skipping ahead to what this call may be about. "Go on."

He didn't ask how or what happened? Questions like that didn't belong in a conversation about a man he barely knew, had only seen once within the last twenty years.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, but your father was involved in an accident early this morning. The doctors did everything they could, but he died on the operating table an hour ago."

"An hour ago?" Reid repeated, looking at his watch for some reason.

"Yes and again I'm sorry, but one of the reasons I'm informing you over the phone instead of in person is because your father was listed as an organ donor."

"Okay."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "As next of kin we need your permission and if we had time I wouldn’t be so blunt but-."

"What? Next of...? No there's got to be a mistake. I - we-"

"Doctor I understand from his wife the nature of your relationship with your father wasn't close-"

"His what?" Reid breathed, the woman on the other end kept talking, bombarding him with information he couldn't handle and he couldn't listen anymore. "Yeah, she's, she's my mom just, just do whatever he wanted. I'm... yeah. You need me to sign something?"

"I can have it emailed to you-"

Reid shut her up by reeling off Garcia's email address and then quickly hung up, slamming the phone down hard, before running out the bull pen.

...

"Garcia?"

"Yes, my dove" she spun around in her chair, catching sight of his face all colour drained from hers. "Oh no what's happened?"

"Nothing can you check your email, I had someone send you something." Reid dismissed, his tone uncharacteristically cold telling her he was trying extra hard to hide his emotions by controlling his voice. 

Profilers weren't the only ones who could read people.

"You had them send it to me?" She turned back to her screen anyway, knowing the best way to get the answers she wanted would be to play along and do as he said.

"Yeah, I have to electronically sign something?" Reid mumbled the statement as a question.

"Ah and of course you'd need my help with that." She chuckled until she found what it was he was having to sign. "Oh Spencer."

"How do I do it?" He cut her off quickly.

Garcia blinked, saw the bitter determination in his eyes and knew there was only one way to help him right now.

"Err, you just…" Garcia walked him through it and had it sent back to the Las Vegas hospital all within five minutes. "Reid, if you-"

"I'm fine, nobody else needs to know."

"But at least let me call Morgan." She called after him as he ran like the flash out her door.

"Well he didn't say I couldn't," Garcia grumbled to herself, snatching up her phone speeding dialing faster than she had ever speed dialed before.

...

"Hey Baby Girl,"

"No time for flirty chat our baby's in trouble." She screeched at him down the phone.

Derek stopped dead in the middle of the street he was walking down, lunch in hand. "Okay calm down, what's Reid got himself into this time? He hasn't even left the office yet today."

"How'd you know-? Never mind." Morgan was laughing up until she spilled exactly what was wrong.

Throwing his coffee in the nearest bin to allow him to run faster, "I'm on my way," 

...

"Reid?" Morgan called the second he entered the bullpen, causing the majority of agents to look his way.

"Something wrong?" JJ asked looking up from her own desk opposite Reid's empty one.

"You seen him?" Morgan approached her.

"No, but then I just got back myself, Morgan what's wrong?" 

Derek scanned the bullpen, thinking. He then walked off without answering.

"Rossi you seen Reid?" Morgan barged into the older man's office.

"Morgan, what's going wrong?" Hotch appeared in the doorway, having been alerted by JJ who was at his side. 

He was clearly panicking the team. Looking around at everyone he knew this couldn’t be kept a secret for long and decided best to tell now, get it over with. Reid would forgive him later.

"Garcia called."

...

Reid was down in the archives. It was peaceful and a good place to go when he needed to be alone without leaving the building. Dark, quiet, perfect conditions when he needed to think. Most may think his fear of the dark would put him off, but that fear only came from darkness in unfamiliar places. Cemeteries, parking garages, haunted houses all fine as long as he knew the area in daylight too. A grin hit his face. A memory of a house, one at the center of an urban legend which lead them to catch a most surprising unsub. Garcia had tried to scare him that night, and it had worked too.

Picking up another volume Reid put it in a pile of possibles. He kept going along the row. He was sitting amongst some of his favorites when voices broke the gentle quiet. 

"He came in an hour ago, looked a bit flustered. Good boy he is, always helps me with the books at the end of the day when he's in town. You need to feed him more though."

"I'll see that we do,"

Reid recognised the familiar to the point delivery of his boss straight away.

"There he is." the old lady librarian who kept the archives announced. "Spencer? Visitor."

"Yes Mrs. Brunel, thank you." Reid looked her way and smiled.

Hotch thanked the woman too and walked over to the boy lounging on the dusty floor. After a moments consideration Hotch took up position on the floor next to him. Reid knew that second Hotch wasn't looking for him because he had work to do.  
"Garcia told you didn't she." Reid dropped the book he'd been holding in his lap.

"Morgan actually, Garcia called him. She was worried about you." 

Reid huffed. Should have known. Hotch continued talking, about nothing really, just how he has friends and they are here for him, his voice was so soft, so nice it was nearly Reid's undoing. This was the Hotch outside of work, the one he saw at parties or generally any time they weren't on a case. This was Dad-Hotch sitting with him right now and damn it if that's not exactly what he didn't need.

"I'm fine, really." he squeaked, despite knowing Hotch wouldn't believe it, knowing Hotch would hear the strain in his voice and like Morgan or Rossi or JJ want to ask further.

"Reid, he was your Dad."

Reid shook his head. He'd never talked about his father. Not beyond the case in Vegas years ago. Hotch probably didn't understand.

"No he wasn't." Reid shook his head again. "I told you, back-"

He was about to say back when he was first off the Dilaudid, but being aware of where they were cut himself off.

"I remember Reid." Hotch said softy.

At ease Reid continued. "I told you... back then," he gave Hotch a pointed look. "He choose not to be my father when he left."

"What about the Riley Jenkins case? You told me he apologized."

Yes. That's right, he did. His dad did apologize and frankly he'd been feeling so bad for all the trouble he'd sat there and not been able to say anything, but the flight back and then dinner at Rossi's that evening, he'd thought about it.

"That night, after I fell asleep, you and Rossi were talking. Rossi said it was like all his problems were solved the minute he left us."

"Oh Reid," Hotch looked ashamed.

"I completely agree." Reid shrugged, shutting down any possible apology for talking about him while he slept- or rather appeared to be sleeping. "Remember because I told you." He pleaded again bringing up their conversation in the police station where he'd told Hotch to be a good dad all you had to do was try and never give up. "My Dad gave up on me."

"I haven't." Hotch said, out of the blue. "Neither has Dave." He added.

Reid didn't know what to say to the obvious message behind those simple words, he felt his cheeks heat and quickly looked away, unable to prevent the nervous grin forming on his lips.

Taking a deep breath Reid steadied himself. "He was there for the first ten years of my life. You've been here for the last thirteen."

"And counting" Hotch added lightly. "I'm just sorry I wasn't there for the eleven in between." Hotch added.

Reid blushed again, he'd actually thought about that. Where would he be now if only he'd met one of his colleagues much sooner. Would they have taken him in like they have now or would they have been just another stranger on the street who had no idea the trauma he lived through on a daily basis.

"You ready to go back upstairs?" Hotch broke him out his thoughts.

Reid looked away. "I don't want to go to the hospital. Or the funeral. I know how horrible that sounds, but please don't make me."

Hotch smiled at him, sadness in his eyes at the very thought of making this bright and damaged boy do anything he didn't want to. "I won't make you do anything you don't want to. I promise."

"Garcia won't understand." Reid worried, biting his lip fiercely. 

"I think we can handle Garcia, we're not Morgan." Hotch chuckled, offering his hand.

Reid sniffed, then nodded. "Okay, let's go."

He didn't feel ready, but then he had a feeling he never would. His friends were worried though and probably needed to see him, make sure he was okay. He wanted to give them that at least.

Hotch could see Reid wasn't completely ready, but wasn't going to argue. His butt was numb and frankly sitting in the dark was creeping him out. The second Reid's cold narrow palm was placed in his much larger calloused one Hotch held the grip and used it to pull them both off the cold floor. They said a quick but pleasant goodbye to Mrs. Brunel on the front desk and together made their way back upstairs.

Entering the bullpen everyone was gathered in the conference room. Hotch wasn't sure if it was simply the only place they could worry privately or if something had happened, but nevertheless he was glad everyone had found their way back, which meant Garcia had received his text. He hadn't been sure. The archives weren't known for their stellar cell reception which is why he guessed Reid liked it so much.

"Spence!" JJ spotted him first and greeted him at the door with a big hug.

Reid melted in to it of course and didn't shy away when Garcia grabbed them both.

"Alright let my boy breath yeah?" Morgan came to the kid's rescue, fighting the women off.

Hotch often felt bad thinking of Reid as ‘kid’, but truth was he still was the kid of their little group. Even the new agents that seemed to be popping in and out, Callahan and Lewis respectively were still older than Reid. It seemed no matter how much time passed or how old the rest of them got, Spencer was destined to be their eternal youngest. Hotch remembered as clear as day a barely legal Reid stumbling through the doors of the BAU, special request of the director himself. Gideon had been in charge at the time. He'd been briefed on the matter of the child prodigy assigned straight from the academy. Something completely unheard of. Hotch had no doubt at the time that the poor kid had been thrown into a profession not of his choosing and sort to ensure he got the protection he deserved. His paternal side shining through from the start. Spencer had been granted a pass for FBI training but they still weren't letting him out in the field until he was of age to be in the FBI. That only lasted a year though. HR got sick of his requests to sit the next stage of testing and arguments as to his need to be patient and so at 22 he officially joined the BAU as a full SSA, thus beginning his true career. It took most agents until they were nearer 40 to get that title.

Looking at him now, thirteen years later, the kid had not changed. Not in looks anyway. He was still just as skinny, wore the same thrift shop style clothing, bar a few items that Morgan or Rossi had obvious picked out for him. Hair had altered over the years, but that was only when one of them took him to go get it cut. When it reached his shoulders a few years ago Hotch had threaten to put it in a burette if Reid didn't sort it. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the kid did. He took a pair of scissors to it that night. Hotch learnt never to be literal with the kid again after that.

"I'm fine, really." Reid assured the crowd of people all looking at him in concern.

"Okay everyone back to work." Hotch ordered noncommittally. 

Reid smiled at him gratefully and along with Morgan JJ and Garcia left to head back to his desk.

"So," Rossi approached, "He really okay or are we having another team dinner at my place tonight?"  
"Your offering this time, things do change." Hotch grinned.

"I'm mellowing in my old age, what can I say I'm a sucker for the puppy dog eyes, but don't avoid the question. The kid good or not?"

Watching Reid sit down at his desk, "His dad just died." 

"And?"

"And honestly I don't know.” Hotch turned, looking Rossi dead in the eye. “He doesn't seem too upset about it, not in the conventional sense anyway."

Rossi mulled that over. "Good. Bastard isn't worth it."

"That's pretty much what he said but with not with so much colour."

"You think that’s colorful you should have heard me when I was a marine." Rossi grinned. Seeing the slight forced grin on Hotch he added. "Okay spill, what did he say?"

"Ah just that he was awake that time after Vegas when we were talking about his father. He heard everything. He agreed."

"What else did he say?" Rossi prodded, he had a feeling Reid had been awake the whole time anyway, and it was nothing the kid didn't already know.

Hotch looked away looking unusually embarrassed. 

"Aaron?"

"He said his Dad gave up on him."

Dave's eyes instantly narrowed. Picturing himself beating up a corpse.

"What did you say?"

Hotch looked him dead in the eye. "That we haven't." He smiled, a rare smile that didn't light his face but was present all the same.

"Damn right we haven't." Rossi grinned quite pleased. "Now let's go tell everyone it’s not work, it's quitting time. We're owed one for sure."

Rossi left the room before Hotch could protest, they had a party to plan, macabre as that may seem considering, but the kid needed to forget about his past and know what he still had. There would be no funerals today.


End file.
